GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Xtreme DDR4 Intel Motherboard

The Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Xtreme is a flagship E-ATX motherboard built around the Intel Z490 Express Chipset and designed for 10th Generation Intel Core processors in the LGA1200 package — from Celeron up to Core i9. Its headline power delivery is a 16-phase digital VRM with 90A Smart Power Stage components and Tantalum Polymer Capacitors, a design intended to provide stable, efficient power to demanding processors under sustained workloads. Memory support spans four DDR4 DIMM slots accommodating up to 128 GB (32 GB per slot) in dual-channel configuration. With a compatible Core i9 or i7, frequencies reach DDR4-5000 via XMP overclocking; Core i5, i3, Pentium, and Celeron processors operate at DDR4-2133/2400/2666. The board also supports Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) modules and ECC Unbuffered DIMMs operating in non-ECC mode. Storage is covered by three M.2 Socket 3 connectors — two supporting SATA and PCIe x4/x2 NVMe, one PCIe x4/x2 only — each fitted with Thermal Guards II heatsinks to manage SSD temperatures. Six SATA 6 Gb/s ports and support for RAID 0/1/5/10 round out the storage stack, and Intel Optane Memory is supported. Connectivity sets this board apart at its tier. Dual wired LAN consists of an Aquantia 10GbE controller (supporting 10G/5G/2.5G/1G/100M) and an Intel 2.5GbE controller. Wireless is handled by the Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 module with Bluetooth 5.1, supporting 802.11ax on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands via two included AORUS antennas. Two onboard Thunderbolt 3 ports (USB Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2) support DisplayPort 1.4 output at up to 5120×2880@60 Hz. The audio subsystem uses a Realtek ALC1220-VB codec paired with an ESS ES9018K2M DAC and TI OPA1622 operational amplifier on the rear panel, plus an ESS ES9218P DAC on the front-panel circuit, with WIMA audio capacitors. DTS:X Ultra and S/PDIF optical output are included, alongside a bundled ESSential USB DAC accessory. Expansion slots comprise one PCIe 3.0 x16 (full bandwidth), one PCIe 3.0 x16 wired at x8, and one PCIe 3.0 x16 wired at x4, with SLI and CrossFire multi-GPU support. USB ports total 17 across the board: back panel carries two Thunderbolt 3 Type-C, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, two USB 3.2 Gen 1, and two USB 2.0 ports, plus an RJ-45 pair, HDMI, optical S/PDIF, and five audio jacks. A Q-Flash Plus button enables BIOS updates without a CPU, memory, or GPU installed. Aesthetics are managed through RGB Fusion 2.0 with multi-zone addressable and standard RGB LED headers (two of each). Smart Fan 5 provides hybrid fan control across multiple temperature sensors with noise detection capability. Verifiable Specifications: – Socket: LGA1200 | Chipset: Intel Z490 Express – Form Factor: E-ATX — 305 mm × 271 mm – Memory: 4× DDR4 DIMM, max 128 GB, DDR4-2133 to DDR4-5000 (O.C. with i9/i7) – Storage: 3× M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4/x2 NVMe; 2 also support SATA), 6× SATA 6 Gb/s, RAID 0/1/5/10 – LAN: Aquantia 10GbE + Intel 2.5GbE – Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (802.11ax, 160 MHz, up to 2.4 Gbps*), Bluetooth 5.1 – Thunderbolt 3: 2× onboard (USB Type-C, DisplayPort 1.4, up to 5120×2880@60 Hz) – VRM: 16-phase digital, 90A Smart Power Stage – Audio: Realtek ALC1220-VB + ESS ES9018K2M DAC + TI OPA1622 (rear); ESS ES9218P DAC (front); DTS:X Ultra – BIOS: AMI UEFI, Dual BIOS (2× 256 Mbit flash) – Warranty: 3 Years *Actual wireless data rate varies by environment and equipment